Political thriller author Ben Coes, whose latest book is Coup d’Etat, was Mitt Romney’s campaign manager during his successful run for governor of Massachusetts. PJ Media interviewed Coes about Mitt Romney’s influence on his life.

Romney, in the audio version of Coes’ book Power Down, discusses his enjoyment of thrillers, and some of the former governor’s views come out loud and clear. Mitt Romney obviously shows his loyalty to Coes when he notes in the interview, “For those that don’t know, you helped me with my successful campaign for governor which is something I will not forget.”

Romney likes thrillers for their entertainment but also for the underlying message. Coup d’Etat has a scary and realistic scenario and it carries a message as well. A radical Islamist is elected Pakistan’s president. After Pakistan drops a nuclear bomb on India, America deals with the complexities and dangers that unfold by sending commandos to overthrow the extremist regime. Coes says: “Romney has always espoused an America that we are proud of: strong, not afraid to stand by its allies, and without apologies.” A reader of Coes would think he wrote these words uttered by Romney on October 3, 2011:

You (Pakistan) can’t play both sides of this game. You’ve got to decide if you’re with us or with them. … If you’re with them, that will have a very significant consequence. If you’re with us, that’s a very good thing.

Coes said he is not surprised by that quote, since he describes Romney as

…tough and someone who can take criticism as well as dish it out. He has a great sense of humor, which many people don’t see. He is one of the funniest guys I have hung out with and does not take himself too seriously. He is a wonderful person. A story that has never been told which exemplifies the type of person he is: The Christmas before he ran for governor a woman from some place in Massachusetts found out his phone number and called him on Christmas Day to tell him how cold she was and that she was without any heat. Mitt and his five sons filled a truck up with wood, drove for two hours, and made the woman a fire, stacking up the leftover wood for her. This shows his heart.

Coes feels Romney would make a good president because he displays ”a take-charge attitude that will enable him to turn around the economy.” He sees Romney as someone who could create jobs through his understanding of the private sector — mainly, that it is not government that creates jobs, but having government get out of the way to allow the private sector to create the jobs. For him, “Mitt can get rid of those layers of cement that have been stuck on top of the economy.”

I refuse to have this horrible, deceptive man foisted on us as our next Republican nominee. As a businessman, he gutted and closed down companies and outsourced jobs overseas. As a governor, he brought in Romneycare, which became the template for Obamacare, and did nothing to improve the regulatory and tax climate that had created those incentives to move jobs overseas.

If the election comes down to Romney vs. Obama, or Romney vs. Hillary, we emigrate, and that’s that.

While Romney is my last choice, I will point out that Romneycare was at the *state* level, and constitutional. Obamacare is blatantly unconstitutional, and not just because of the mandate. States have the right to run socialist programs – but not to expect the rest of the country to pay for them. I would argue that we need some blue states with state level socialist programs for liberals to live in. That is the constitutional way for us all to get along.

Ah Romney the Toga wearing intellect. I rolled over for McCain, but I can’t see myself doing it again. Better for the country to have a quick death than a long draw out suffering year after year death by Mr. Intellect..

Up close and personal with a cheap-shot derogatory weasel? You can have him. He’s always been a politician’s politician with any angle possible and why the generic establishment Republican party can be so very odious.

Romney might actually be eligible for POTUS, but it needs to be seriously considered, like they did with McCain. As it stands, with a non-citizen father at the time of his birth, he is in the same position as Obama. The natural born clause always seemed weird to me, until we started getting this string of Marxist candidates that don’t meet it – the founders were prescient.

No one is mentioning Romney’s close ties with the creepy science czar John Holdren..Why not vet this guy before he gets nominated? The Washington Examiner exposes his progressive stand on cap and trade. (He is also exposed in climate science news, including Climate Depot’s website.) If you like California, you might like this guy.

Romney is a bad idea until you open your mind and imagine Perry debating Obama and what else it that Herman Cain doesn’t know.

Romney and Newt have won each of these debates by wide margins. Each has baggage, but no one else has the knowledge, experience, intellectual heft, and rhetorical skills to take on a media backed Obama. So reject these men because of their baggage and get ready for 4 more years of devastation.

More reason for a third party. You’re not going to beat Obama with his mirror image, ok. The only chance we have is picking a candidate which is the complete opposite of Obama on all issues(ex. socializied medicine, AGW, TARP). I choose to reject Romney because he guarantees four more years of destruction. I respectfully disagree with your analysis.

EPA – Executive overreach already acheived by Obama. No where to go but down in regulation since BREATHING is already labelled a pollutant.

GE, GM, and Fannie Mae – Crony Capitalism acheived! More than ever hoped for yet Obama continues to pick losers. How could Romney do worst?

Destruction of the Country is already acheived IF we continue on this course.

Romney WON’T keep us on this course of destruction since there is a big difference between the Obama and Romney. Romney will listen to others, especailly to representatives, and Obama only listens to the sound of his own voice because it is so awesome. At least he thinks it is.

So go ahead and vote Third Party if Romney wins the nomination, split the vote which really means you are voting for Obama.

The selection of Willard Mittens Romney as the Republican candidate will be the salvation of the patyu….The Democrat party. Never, since the 1980 election, has there been an opportunity such as this one to fully correct the course of the ship of state! 1980 gave us the greatest president since Thomas Jefferson, but his post-script turned out to be just another country club type, a sop offered the VP position in order to keep the moderates from jumping ship.

The biggest mistake of Reagans presidency was in retaining GHW Bush as VP in 84. He could easily have named a real conservative without losing a single vote, thereby giving us 16 (and likely more) years of sound conservative policy withour a Clinton, without an incredible declining W, and most certainly without the second coming of Carter we suffer with today.

If Mittens is nominated, the Dems win, and the GOP loses….millions, including myself, will be gone forever. Likely the country will be also.

Nope, Romney is a no vote from me. He’s a liar, he is a jerk, he in no way can relate to anyone who is not like him, he’s a hypocrite… wow, sounds like a Democrat now that I think of it!
I’m only casting my vote for one person, Rick Perry. I’m voting for him regardless. He’s been awesome for Texas and anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves.

I must be on a dem website! You obviously want another 4 years of obama! No. 1 – could you be really Mrs Perry, or how about moooooochelllle?
We are in soooo much trouble and the next 4 years are going to be a mess if we don’t get rid of idiot in chief. But gosh, “we don’t think he has a personality”. G-d please held us survive with these idiots!
Put in perry and watch the debates and obama will demand that they have one every week

Don’t forget, Obama is the communist here. He is my enemy and the enemy of my enemy is my friend. I don’t like Romney and I hope Newt gets the nomination, but I will vote for a yellow dog against Obama because that is all I can do to try to help save my country. You can do what you want, but at this point, I don’t believe I can afford to have any tolerance for your point of view.

I must be on a dem website! You obviously want another 4 years of obama! No. 1 – could you be really Mrs Perry, or how about moooooochelllle?
We are in soooo much trouble and the next 4 years are going to be a mess if we don’t get rid of this fraud. But gosh, “we don’t think he has a personality”. G-d please held us survive with these idiots!
Put in perry and watch the debates and obama will demand that they have one every week and the repub can hardly refuse. After all he will know what the questions will be and so that little bug in the ear will be all ready to answer in great length.
We are soooooo screwed!

I as wondering the same thing. It is possible that some responding are libs hoping to smear the best hope we conservatives have of beating Obama: OR the ultra-conservatives that won’t consider anyone but Bachmann, or Cain because they somehow think this is their time (!!!) I put exclaimations because at a 912 meeting the other night that is how most of them were talking to me, in between groans when I said I like Mitt Romney and believe he is the best man for the job of president. Being a right of center moderate is not where most of these people currently are. Excuse me people, but their are more independents to be won over than Don’t Tread on Me types and those indi’s won’t consider a ultra conservative.

Claudia USA, with all due respect, you and others on PJM are as much of a threat to the survival of this country as Mr. Obama. You really have no clue! The indie vote? Question, why did John McCain lose the Indie vote by a margin of 60-40 the last election cycle? John McCain was the quintessential moderate, rino, war hero candidate. Theoretically, McCain was going to bring the Indies and cross-over democrats back home to GOP central. What happened?

What happened? McCain was made a fool by the MSM and Obama. A classic political trap. Tell McCain one thing that he desired, campaign finance reform, and then do the opposite to gain every advantage over him.

I am not saying McCain is a fool, he compromised too easily to his disadvantage on the word of his opponent. He expected honor from those how basically have none. That is where he went wrong.

McCain was a senator and a leader in the senate. He felt the pull of his duty to the Congress during the financial crisis and instead of fighting in the campaign he went to the senate instead of the people.

There is more, but Romney is different than McCain. He isn’t taken in and while many want Romney to be ‘more like us’ in spouting his opinions and going with his gut, well that isn’t him.

Can Romney be a jerk?

Sure, but I don’t think you can be President without it. It just depends on who he is being a jerk to.

A pushy reporter? A forgien leader that is not friendly to the US? A leader has to take a stand when someone else is trying to talk over him. Even to the point of being a jerk to get the job done.

There is a limit sure and Romney has hit it with some. As Lincoln said you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.

Romney isn’t fooling anyone like our glorious current leader in the White House. Romney has views that are not inline with all Conservatives, but not enough to be counted out as a candidate.

If you don’t want Romney by all means vote for Cain and get the word out to vote for him. Except that Cain has the same type of problems.

So it all comes down to what you want. Freedom to choose our representative! A republic!

McCain lost the indie vote because he was a lousy candidate, too old and said he wanted to stay in Iraq for 100 years. Romney ran against McCain. Why the heck are we dragging Romney down comparing him to McCain of all people. You guys should have voted for Romney in 2008 and he would have beaten Obama.

If he’s such a wonderful, warm person, how come this doesn’t come across in the debates?

A red flag went up for me in the debate before last where he got visibly angry at the young woman reporter who dared to ask him a second question. He acted like a thin-skinned snob. I’ve dealt with men like this at work for years when I was younger- they don’t dare do it now that I’m old, but it happened in my younger days. Some people can’t take anyone they view in a “lesser” position, either thru age or experience to question them. It sets them off.

I’m going to have to observe some more how he interacts with people he is in conflict with before I make my decision about him. Honestly, he was a bit of a dick.

I’ll still vote for him over Obama, but I don’t think I’m going to like it.

1. I am a registered “gun nut”. Last election Romney tried to come off as a gun guy with some cockamamie story about his boyhood. It sounded fake and sounded like pandering. I don’t care that he’s not a “gun nut”, a gun user, or even if he doesn’t personally like guns as long as he comes out strongly in favor of the precepts of the second amendment and protects MY gun interests.

2. I am very concerned about his stand on global warming, Again, I don’t care if he believes in it or not as long as he avoids setting policy on his belief. We have all the examples we need of unintended consequences of mollifying critics or buying votes: the National Environmental Policy Act which brought us the EPA comes immediately to mind.

Mitt Romney is the most honest politician I have seen in my lifetime. That is seen as just the opposite in politics where every word is parsed for hidden meanings.

No hidden meaning. Mitt Romney is what he is. Sometimes flawed, sometimes perfect. Mitt Romney follows through on his commitments. Period.

He honestly and openly dealt with the people and the legislature in Massachusetts, he didn’t trick anyone. He did it as conservatively as they would allow him to do it. He disagreed, made that clear, then followed through on his obligation to do the will of the people, even when he disagreed with them.

You simply don’t get more honest than Mitt Romney.

That is why McCain started the attacks on his honesty that you respond to today. Honest government is what Mitt will bring. McCain knew it was his strong point so he went after his reputation.

And McCAin won in more ways than one. Now where does Mitt go to get his true reputation back after all the lies told about him? No where, he can only go forward and hope you will learn it for yourselves.

I tend to agree with that assessment, although I have no first hand experience with the man. I need actual contact with another person before I can make a judgment about their honesty. That said, I read his book, “Turnaround”, about the mess he had to fix in the the corrupted Salt Lake City Olympic organization. His story showed that he is a good leader and a fairly good judge of other people and their abilities. I am sure this attribute would alarm many of the people I have met in my life, but I find it to be one of the few reassurances I feel about a potential Romney Presidency.

Shauna, I guess you haven’t seen nor heard Romney tried to out liberal, liberal Ted Kennedy, when he ran against Kennedy for senate. Nor when he told a homosexual group that they would not find a better friend than him. How about when the Mass. Supreme Court told Mass. to institute same sex marriage. The legislature did not act, of Romney ordered all county clerks to issue same sex marriage licenses, on his own accord, without any pressure from the courts. Or how about being pro-choise before he was pro-life and about his ‘conversion’ to being pro-life. All these are reasons not to vote for Romney under any circumstances. Romney is the type of politician who tells each crowd he talks to what they want to hear. That sounds alot like Obama. While Obama want to take us over the cliff in a race car, Romney want to take us over at a crawl. Politicians have gotten us into this mess, isn’t it time we put forth a non-politician as president? The only person who fits that bill is Herman Cain. Cain will bring out the racism in the democrat party and shove it back into their faces. He is the only one who can take the fight to Obama without the race card being played. All the other candidates for president are politicians!

The thing that skanked me on Romney was the reporter who “imbedded” himself with the Romney family, was it 2008? Anyway, near the end it was evident the fellow felt a connection to the Family and expressed himself that way, kind of as an adopted son. Mitt responded to the contrary and it left me feeling, ‘hey dude, where’s the grace, where’s an iota of acceptance?’ There was none, just a cold heart.
The only thing that troubles me about Mittens is the fact that he has been deceived about the foundations of his faith, and it shows in his inadvertently unguarded moments.
He is Obama light and he needs to pass silently into the darkness.

I am saddened to see all the negativity here in the comments. The “room” is epicly filled with Trollers or uninfromed People.

The GOP has yet to choose a Candidate. Folks, you need to open your mind and relook at the larger view of our Country. We have an Academic Elitest Communist as our President. The Country is arguably in the worst state in a long long time. I won’t expand on the facts of it.

We NEED to unite and get ANY of the Rupublicans elected and get us off this “Highway to Hell” (sorry AC/DC)

Disunity is EXACTLY what Obama, Soros and party want, EXACTLY – Which is why they are manufacturing & supporting this OWS group of Anarchists, Maoists and General Fruit Basket rent a crowdies.

I personally would vote for The Ronulan before I would EVER vote for Obama & the Left. I think Ron Paul is a Loon, but he is a Conservative Loon and would undo some of the damage that Obama has done. But I may not have to vote for Paul, Romney is way better, Cain is a good man, Bachmann is awesome, Perry has a great record…

Mitt Romney would be a fine President. He’s very intelligent without being intellectual, exactly the opposite of Obama. Thus, unlike Obama, he would quickly learn from experience; at the same time, he would take into account the feelings and wishes of the majority. Not only would he bring sorely-needed competence to the White House, his influence would work to dampen ideologically-inspired resentments.

So I have to ask, why does he inspire so much hatred among some folks on the right? To say “he’s not conservative enough” doesn’t explain it — doesn’t explain all the personal attacks or the sheer violence in language that goes beyond the treatment of any other Republican candidate within his own party. Witness some of the comments here, or consider Santorum’s outburst in the last debate.

I think the answer is that Romney is too smart. People are rankled by his obvious superiority, or at least by his insufficient effort to disguise it. Romney may be the best man available to do the hardest and most complex job in the world, but to be chosen one has to be just like “one of us” and Romney so obviously isn’t “one of us.”

While there WERE better choices for candidates (Palin) the field is thinning out as 2012 is nearly here.

Right now there are are only two choices. Romney or Cain. That is it. Perry imploded in my opinion, so that leaves just two. As Stan said there is Romney who ISN’T “one of us” and Cain, in my opinion, who is “one of us”.

You have to choose who you want. Romney is very intelligent, the opposite of Obama, since Romney listened to the people of his state who WANTED Romneycare. That is something A LOT of people forget. The PEOPLE wanted that program and they got it. The situation of RomneyCare is very different in many ways than ObamaCare. Were both a disaster for the state (RomneyCare) and the Country (ObamaCare)? You bet they are. However instead of saying RomneyCare was a disaster Romney doesn’t. Why?

Because it is what the PEOPLE, the majority, of his state asked for. They wanted it. It passed the legislature and he signed it in accordance to the will of the PEOPLE, their representatives and majority, who wanted the program.

That is a big difference from what happened with ObamaCare where the majority AND the representatives did not embrace the program to the point the elites forced the bill through and again in defiance to the will of the PEOPLE Obama signed the bill into law.

If the people of the state want the program gone they can vote it out. They don’t again because they want it. The same is not the case for ObamaCare. It IS being voted out and if we are lucky will be ruled unconstitutional be the Supreme Court before the election.

Both Cain and Romney have their weaknesses. I am still in a wait and see mode since the elections are not until next year. They have time to convince me who I will choose. Even if as some suggested that Romney is Obama-lite or a Democrat there is a big difference you must consider. Romney has, does and will LISTEN to the will of the PEOPLE. That means if the legislature has more Democrats next year he will LISTEN to those represenatives instead Obama who looked down his nose at the minority leadership after being elected and said, “I won”.

Even though I still have certain reservations about Romney, I still have to consider that he may well become the Republican party nominee and I remain open to that possibility. I will vote for a different candidate in the primary, however if Romney is the nominee, I will do everything to ensure that the Republican wins.

You have to love the pseudo conservatives that reply…Mitt Romney balanced a nearly 1 billion dollar budget shortfall his first year as Governer of MA. And did it 4 times and ran a surplus…Reduced waste and spending his whole term and that was before it was cool to do so…

RomneyCare was fashioned with help the Heritage Foundation… the Conservative think tank that Rush Limbaugh promotes on his show??? Newt Gingritch worked there…The thought was everyone had to pay there fair share..What is not conservative about that??? Don’t understand…

To say he is not Conservative enough is Balony…Unless your going the Ron Paul isolationist route…

He is the only one articulate enough and has the credentials to run for POTUS…We have to have someone with Communication skills…Reagan had liberal moments as Governor of CA. But he could convey a message like no other…The great Communicator

Can you imagine Perry standing there in a debate with Obama…Stammering around and yelling energy ever once in a while??? Or Paul shaking like a tree and arms flaling around telling how he is going to legalize all drugs…Or Gingrich getting caught in a lie just like in the last debate…

Romney is a typical moronic politician when it comes to AGW. But this country is so immersed in its official state religion, Environmentalism, that he will never get elected if he advocates the elimination of the EPA. And neither could anyone else.

The great unforgivable crime, Romney signed into law that citizens of Massachusetts are required to carry some form of health insurance, issued by a private company. Same as with automobile insurance, although no one ever complains about that.

That’s it, the crime of the century.

Something else is going on here with the far right and it isn’t Romneycare.

I thought this was a conservative site! What a bunch of bozo negative comments.
Romney is one of our best options, and probably THE best to kick out BHO.
It is utterly stupid to rail against this fellow conservative.

Definitive results of Republican preferences for their party’s 2012 nominee for president of the United States are far from in although thousands have expressed their opinions in non-binding state straw polls. There won’t be any real results until the numbers from the January 3rd Iowa caucuses and January 1oth New Hampshire primary are tabulated.

Still, based on early polls, the debates, educated guesses, and inconsequential straw ballots, pundits and non-pundits alike have a gut feeling on who will snag the gold GOP ring and, perhaps more importantly, who should be the nominee’s choice for a running mate.

As of now, it looks like former Massachusetts governor Willard Mitt Romney for the top spot. Assuming Mitt wants to win on November 6th,2012, he will pick Florida’s Senator Marco Antonio Rubio to run with him against President Barack Hussein Obama and Person-to-be-Named-Later, after Obama tests how the fickle political winds are blowing.

Designated late night Democrat hatchetmen Leno and Letterman would have tons of idiotic fun poking ridicule at “Willard” and “Marco” while ignoring the equivalent hilarity of “Barack” and his comical gaffes and ineptitude but they won’t get the chance unless Willard and Marco share the GOP ticket.

As we all know, things can change quickly and dramatically in the world of contemporary politics. Witness New York Senator Hillary Clinton’s unexpected fade in the 2008 Democrat presidential sweepstakes and, more recently, Rep. Michelle Bachmann’s and Gov. Rick Perry’s falls from grace among Republicans.

We also know the sheer terror Rubio has struck in the liberal minds and soul-less hearts of Obama’s MSM as seen in the current campaign by the Washington Post, et al. to deconstruct Rubio based on an innocent error concerning the date of his parents’ flight from Castro’s Cuba. The lib theory seems to be, when you have nothing, go with it, the same angle they unsuccessfully used on Herman Cain.

Good man that he is, Cain can’t be elected despite his recent popularity; he’s even more inexperienced and unqualified to be president than a certain community organizer was three years ago and lacks the advantage of mainstream media backing him and concealing his flaws.

Barring some catastrophic event, a Hillary insurrection, or Obama pulling an LBJ, he will head the Democrat ticket next year and, barring a miracle, Romney will be the Republican nominee. He will then have to decide whether to beat Obama or try once again to win in 2016. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=5846.)